An artist has spoken of his relief after his ghost train artwork was finally laid in position over Brighton's New England Road eight years after it was first conceived.

The stunning locomotive has been put in place on the railway bridge over the road five years after planning permission for the artwork was granted.

After that, it took two years to get the sculpture ready, but the project was then held-up for three years in red tape with Network Rail and planning issues with the rail authority and Brighton and Hove City Council over the use of the grade II listed railway crossing.

The sculpture is a two-dimensional replica of the locomotive Jenny Lind, one of ten steam engines built in 1847 for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway which proved such a hit in Brighton that became the first mass-produced locomotive to meet demand.

The artwork has been paid for by Findon-based developers QED along with Sainsbury's and Barratt Homes as part of the redevelopment of the New England Quarter.

Special lighting will make the train appear and disappear to create a ghostly presence while it has been coated in four different shades of grey to give it an “etching-like quality”.

Artist Jon Mills, who is based in Robertson Road, Brighton, said: “I am delighted to finally get it out of the yard because it has been sat there for three years waiting to be powder coated.

“I was beginning to think might have to find an alternative location for it but I am glad it is on the bridge because that is the most fitting position.

“There would be lots of train workers who would be streaming down under this bridge on their way to what was the Cobblers Thumb or the Railway Inn as it was known then.”

“The city has a fantastic steam train-making history, it's almost hard to believe that now.”